Caltrans is building wetlands in Montara

Hikers, dogwalkers, and neighbors in Montara have been watching a mysterious construction site take shape in the open space near Highway 1 on the northern edge of town. This week in particular, the activity has increased with a gravel road and chain-link fencing.

All that earth-moving equipment is actually building wetlands.  As mitigation for taking about an acre of wetlands in the building of the Devil’s Slide Tunnel, Caltrans is replacing and restoring four acres of wetlands in Montara on the Rancho Corral de Tierra land owned owned by the Peninsula Open Space Trust [Google satellite picture].

Much of the area nearby is already wetlands, covered with wetlands vegetation. The project will create seasonal wetlands that will flood in the rainy season, mimicking a natural cycle, except that it will be drained by a culvert under the highway.

According to Jeff Weiss with Caltrans, "We’re removing all the existing vegetation and replacing it with native wetlands vegetation."

Weiss said that the $1.3 million wetlands project has been passed by the San Mateo County Mosquito Abatement District.